New Places

This past weekend a few of us took a trip to San Yi. It is a place south of Taipei where the Hakka people live. It is famous for it's amazing woodcarving (which today is mostly imported from China!). It was a good time to get away and to see some green!!! Everything is mostly just buildings where we are, so to be in the mountains surrounded by green was such a treat!

Here are a few pictures of our trip!

(Amanda, Becky, and I at the broken broken bridge!)


(Shops were filled with wood carved idols)


(Me with a piggie! - It is the year of the pig)


(A cute little boy at the church we went to who recited Psalm 23)


(Wood carvings)

for your amusement

I am learning many new things...but some things are just crazy! ;)

"Mary had a little lamb,
Her father shot it dead,
Now she takes her lamb to school,
Between two pieces of bread."

Just wanted you to know that between all the normal stuff, we do have a few laughs! :D

True Joy

Chapel today was hosted by the English Department, so it was all in English! We all attended and the Department Head, Scott Hovater, spoke. He spoke from John Piper's book "Desiring God". He will be touching on each chapter throughout the semester, and today he was explaining to the students how God wants us to enjoy Him. It is part of our entire purpose for being here, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. It is a common misconception that Christians have to give up everything they like and that is fun and live boring solemn lives. Wrong.
God wants us to enjoy the things He has given us, enjoy the life we live, enjoy His creation, enjoy others, and most of all enjoy HIM! Living a life committed to Christ can and should be a life of joy, filled with joy in what Christ has done on our behalf and filled with a desire for God and who He is! We will only really find true enjoyment and be completely filled when we delight in Him!
"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4
"As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God." Psalm 42:1
"O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water." Psalm 63:1
"They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights." Psalm 36:8
"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!" Psalm 34:8
"then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver." Job 22:25

God has put that desire for joy and happiness in us all, don't try to deny it - seek Him!!!

Life in Taiwan

-We needed to go to the store, we got prepared for the walk but...OH! I forgot to bring grocery bags. Oh well, I guess I will just have to carry it back, unless I want to buy a grocery bag.
-At the store, I cannot decide if I want red bean pudding, or milk pudding.
-Make sure you get your fruits and veggies weighed before you check out!
-We took the scooter to the city rather than the MRT.
-My lunch today only cost $100!!! Wow, what a great deal!
-How much did it cost to send that letter? Oh, just 15 dollars.
-I try to find the stall with the Western toilet and not the squat toilet.
-I need to make a trip to dump my food today, and then take my recyclables to their dump, and then the regular trash to its dump.
-It seems that people are always celebrating something with fireworks...but is probably just some other god they are worshiping and trying to scare off evil spirits with the fireworks.
-At night, the music of the garbage truck will get stuck in your head!



Those are just a few things in regular life over here!

Thank you, but no thanks

So. Here's a story. Amanda (helping with English here for 1 year) and I decided to go to lunch today...yes, by ourselves. Ordering consisted of looking at the pictures and pointing to what looked best. It seemed harmless, until I saw this:



and this..........



AND.......



Yes, some sort of disgusting little squid type of things made it onto my plate.....and quickly off!
It truly looked as if they could have squirmed off my plate by themselves without me helping them! I have tried many things while I have been here, but I draw the line at things that look as if they could still move and should still be alive!!!